PS3 predicted for Christmas number one

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The PlayStation 3 will be the biggest selling console in the UK this Christmas, according to new research conducted by price comparison site Kelkoo. It will beat the Xbox 360 and break the Nintendo Wii's 3-year reign at the top.

Put together by GameVision Europe for Kelkoo, the prediction claims that it will be the PlayStation Move that will elevate Sony to the top, although the trend towards motion gaming across all of the consoles will help sell around 1.8 million gaming machines. Of that, 750,000 of them will be PS3s - 520,000 being a Move bundle.

The Xbox 360 is expected to sell 410,000 units - 280,000 of which being Kinect bundles. And the Wii will find 650,000 new owners.

Microsoft, however, will take solace in the fact that it is expected to sell 700,000 stand-alone Kinect add-ons, raking in considerably more revenue than Sony. Although the latter will sell 850,000 Move Starter Packs, their lower price point of £49.99 (£44.99 online - as Kelkoo is keen to point out) will bring in £38,241,500 (based on the online price), whereas the Kinect at £129.99 (£124.99 online) will add up to £87,493,000 (at online prices) - over twice as much.

It is also interesting to note that, currently, there are 6.9 million Wii consoles, 5.3 million Xbox 360s, and 3.4 million PlayStation 3s in the UK.

If the predictions are correct, after Christmas there will be 7.55 million Wiis, 5.71million Xbox 360s, and 4.15 million PS3s. The Wii will still be the country's number one.

UPDATE: Microsoft has pointed out that the above statistics don't include the 250GB Xbox 360, so naturally that will also have an impact on overall sales figures. As to whether it will be enough to stop the PS3 dominating the Christmas charts, however, remains to be seen.

Which console are you plumping for this Christmas? And are you interested in motion gaming? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below...